Minimalism Collection: Minimalism for Beginners, Minimalism for Families and Decluttering. Step by Step Home Management Strategies to Organize Your Home Life for the Whole Family to Live Free of Clutter in Just 7 Days!

By Ito Watanabe

The ultimate minimalism and decluttering collection. Master the tips and strategies taught in this book collection and you shall live a life of happiness and free of clutter with your friends and family!

This Minimalism and Decluttering collection includes Minimalism for Beginners, Minimalism for Families and Decluttering.

In "Minimalism For Beginners", you will discover:

•    The one thing that could ruin your journey to Minimalism
•    The Advantages of Using Minimalism in Your Life
•    How to Maintain a Minimalist Home
•    Minimalism and Your Health
•    The Secret to applying Minimalism without losing your friends 
•    Money management tips for a successful Minimalist lifestyle
•    Starting with Your Own Stuff
•    Tips to Help You Implement Minimalism Into Your Daily Life for the Long Term
•    The only thing you need to do daily for your Minimalism lifestyle to be a success long term!

In "Minimalism For Families", you will discover:

•    Secret tips and tricks to make the whole family involved without them noticing
•    How to Deal with Problems When Everyone in the Family Isn’t On Board
•    The one thing you need to get right for your kids to love their new Minimalism lifestyle (Do this wrong and they will hate you!)
•    Tips for Home Decoration On the Minimalist Lifestyle
•    Make or break Minimalist budget tips that will guarantee your success as a Minimalist household! 
•    Ways to Sustain and Maintain Your Minimalist Lifestyle
•    Christmas Presents ideas for the Minimalist kids that are sure to win their heart! 

In "Decluttering", you will discover:

•    The one thing that could ruined your journey to Decluttering
•     Deciding That It Is Time to Declutter and Getting Everyone On Board
•     Your Ultimate 7 Day Decluttering Plan
•    Discover The Most important room to declutter (Hint: It’s not the one you think!)
•     Working On One Closet At a Time
•     Special Considerations for the Kids’ Bedrooms and Toy Rooms
•    The one thing you should not forget on your decluttering journey!

Edward Norton, Leonardo DiCaprio and Meg Ryan are just a few on the celebrities who have publicly announced their love for the minimalism lifestyle and décor. After a census it was discovered that the average household has around 300,000 items and that only a quarter of it is useful or even needed. That makes it hard to find the things you actually need when you need it.

In fact research has shown that the average person spends 12 days per year looking for things they can’t find around their own house. Even if you tried other Minimalism books before and failed, you will succeed with this collection because of its long term focus. So if you want to live a life of happiness and free of stress and clutter with your friends and family click “add to cart” and start your Minimalism journey today!  

• Language: English
• Publisher: Creative Minds Publishing
• Release date: Jun 24, 2020
• ISBN: 1951911172

Book preview

Minimalism Collection

Minimalism For Beginners, Minimalism For Families and Decluttering. Step by Step Home Management Strategies To Organize Your Home Life For The Whole Family To Live Free of Clutter in Just 7 Days!

Ito Watanabe

© Copyright 2019 by Ito Watanabe - All rights reserved.

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Table of Contents

Minimalism For Beginners

Introduction 3

Part 1: Understanding Minimalism 7

Chapter 1: What is Minimalism? 9

Chapter 2: The Advantages of Using Minimalism in

Your Life 21

Chapter 3: Minimalism for the Skeptics 29

Chapter 4: Easy Ways to Start Using Minimalism In

Your Life 33

Part 2: Creating a Minimalist Home 39

Chapter 5: The Problem with Clutter 41

Chapter 6: Going Through Your Home and Decluttering 49

Chapter 7: 9 Steps to Minimalizing Your Home 61

Chapter 8: How to Maintain a Minimalist Home 67

Part 3: Starting a Minimalist Lifestyle 75

Chapter 9: Minimalism and Your Health 77

Chapter 10: Minimalism and Your Relationships 81

Chapter 11: Minimalism and Your Money 89

Chapter 12: Minimalism and Your Time 99

Chapter 13: Can Managing Technology Help You on Your Minimalist Lifestyle? 105

Part 4: How to Add More Minimalism To Your Life 111

Chapter 14: Ways to Implement Minimalism Into Your Daily Life 113

Chapter 15: How to Cultivate a Minimalist Mindset 121

Chapter 16: Starting with Your Own Stuff 131

Chapter 17: Different Methods of Organizing and Decluttering That You Can Use 137

Chapter 18: Living Like a Minimalist – Cheat Sheet 149

Conclusion 157

Minimalism For Families

Introduction 163

Part 1: Understanding the Basics of Minimalism 167

Chapter 1: What is Minimalism and Why Is It So

Beneficial to My Life? 169

Chapter 2: Minimalism for Your Family – Is It Possible? 183

Chapter 3: Getting Everyone On Board with a

Minimalistic Lifestyle 193

Chapter 4: How to Help Your Children Love a

Minimalistic Lifestyle 203

Chapter 5: Setting the Rules and Boundaries for This Lifestyle 213

Chapter 6: How to Deal with Problems When Everyone

in the Family Isn’t On Board 219

Part 2: Getting the Home Organized 227

Chapter 7: Tips to Declutter the Whole Home 229

Chapter 8: One Thing In, One Thing Out 243

Chapter 9: Tips for Home Decoration On the

Minimalist Lifestyle 247

Part 3: Your Minimalist Budget 253

Chapter 10: What is a Minimalist Budget? 255

Chapter 11: How to Set Up a Minimalist Budget 263

Chapter 12: Your Guide to Minimalist Toys and Gifts 275

Chapter 13: Tips to Stick with Your Minimalist Budget 283

Part 4: Maintaining the Work You Have Done 289

Chapter 14: Making the Process a Family Affair 291

Chapter 15: Ways to Sustain and Maintain Your

Minimalist Lifestyle 299

Chapter 16: Tips to Make Minimalism Work for Your Family 309

Chapter 17: Minimalist Fun – What is That? 319

Chapter 18: The 5 Dos and 5 Don’ts for the Minimalist Family 323

Conclusion 329

Resources 333

Decluttering

Introduction 337

Chapter 1: What are the Benefits of Decluttering? 341

Chapter 2: Deciding That It Is Time to Declutter and

Getting Everyone On Board 353

Chapter 3: The Different Decluttering and Organization Methods You Can Use 359

Chapter 4: What Supplies Do I Need to Declutter

My Home? 371

Chapter 5: Your Ultimate 7 Day Decluttering Plan 377

Chapter 6: First, Tackle the High-Traffic Area! 387

Chapter 7: How to Declutter the Living Room 395

Chapter 8: How to Declutter the Kitchen 403

Chapter 9: How to Declutter the Bathroom 411

Chapter 10: How to Declutter Your Bedrooms 419

Chapter 11: Working On One Closet At a Time 427

Chapter 12: Special Considerations for the Kids’ Bedrooms and Toy Rooms 433

Chapter 13: The Attic, the Storage Room, and the Garage 441

Chapter 14: Cleaning Up the Home Office 449

Chapter 15: Getting Rid of Sentimental Items 455

Chapter 16: How to Maintain All the Work You Did 461

Chapter 17: Tips to Make Decluttering Easier 473

Chapter 18: Simple Decluttering Hacks for an Organized Home 487

Conclusion 491

Minimalism

Minimalism for Beginners. How to Live Happy While Needing Less In This Modern Material World

By Ito Watanabe

Introduction

The world we live in is very different from what was found in the past. We have a lot of great medical, scientific, and other advances that give us a life that is much better than that of the past. We can treat a lot of illnesses that used to be deadly. We can drive our cars or ride in a plane to get anywhere in the world that we want. We can talk to each other on the computer and see each other, no matter where we are located in the world.

But despite all of this, many people report feelings of unhappiness, and depression levels are higher than any other time in history. And the main reason for this, in most cases, is that we just haven’t learned how to find the things that we value and appreciate the most, and put those at the forefront of our lives.

How many times have you had to miss things because you were at work? How many times have you worried at the end of the month about the bills and getting things paid off on time? How often do you say yes to things that you really have no interest in because you feel you have to? And how much of your free time is spent working or cleaning up all the clutter that is in the way, with things that you really don’t like or appreciate that much.

Our modern world has put us in a place where we are constantly on the run. We think that we need to keep up with our neighbors, that we need to purchase as many items as possible in order to be happy. But then we spend all of our time working in order to pay off those things. We run around doing a million activities and a million things during the day trying to keep up with everyone else. We are old that this is the life that we should have, the way that will lead us to feeling true happiness. But how happy are we all feeling when we live life at such a break neck speed?

This guidebook is going to talk about minimalism, an idea and a lifestyle that is completely different than the ideas that were just talked about above. With minimalism, you don’t have to focus on getting rid of everything that you own and living under a bridge to be happy. But you do need to focus on getting rid of the things that hold no value to you, the things that are just taking up your time and energy, in favor of the things that bring you true passion and happiness in life.

This guidebook will go into some details about minimalism. We will look at what minimalism is all about and some of the benefits of implementing minimalism in our daily lives. Then we will move on to some of the steps that you can take to add some minimalism into your home by decluttering, how to use minimalism for your health, for your money, and even when it comes to the amount of technology that is in your life. And then the guidebook will end with some tips on how to maintain the minimalism in your life, such as some of the best decluttering methods to make things easier.

If you are tired of dealing with the idea of material possessions bringing you happiness and passion, and you want to find a way to improve your life and see some amazing results with a greater focus on the things that you find the most important, make sure to check out this guidebook to learn more about minimalism and how to implement it into your every day life.

Part 1

Understanding Minimalism

Chapter 1

What is Minimalism?

Minimalism is a thought that many people don’t fully understand. When they hear the words, they assume that it means they need to get rid of everything they own, only have one pair of clothes, never go on vacation, and basically never leave the house other than to go to work. They imagine someone who can’t make ends meet at all and who is constantly struggling to get by.

This is not the way that minimalism works though. It is more about deciding what is really important for you and then spending your time and money on those things while getting rid of everything else. Many times in our modern culture, we fall into the trap of having to purchase more and more. We think that we need the newest gadget, the coolest toy, that we need to be out constantly spending our money. But all this leads us to is a ton of debt and things that we never even use in our lives.

With minimalism, you learn how to cut out some of the things that are unnecessary. You focus your time and energy on things that you really love. If you value going on a vacation, but don’t really care about going to the movies or on purchasing a lot of clothes, you would move to the minimum on those items and save up for some nicer vacations. If you really value books, you may keep many of these around, but then cut down on anything that doesn’t bring you the same kind of joy.

Minimalism is not about getting rid of everything and living with nothing. It is more about bringing simplicity to your life, a simplicity that allows you to get more enjoyment out of life. In many cases it can help you save money, but you are not required to cut out everything and live like a monk to make it happen. Just cut out the things that are just taking up space in your home, the things that don’t even bring you joy. Fill that space with things that matter to you, things that bring you happiness, and you will see some great rewards.

There are a lot of ideas out there about minimalism, but many of them are not going to be right. When you think about minimalism, what are some of the first ideas that come to mind? Many people assume that in order to have this kind of lifestyle, the other person needs to spend all their time giving up stuff, living with the lights off, only purchasing cheap food, and never having fun.

But minimalism is about more than that. This lifestyle is means to bring you more happiness and fulfillment. And who can feel happier and more fulfilled if they have to sit in the cold and the dark and just eat Ramen all of the time? There are much better ways to be a minimalist, ways that can help you to feel happier and more content overall.

First, when it comes to minimalism, it isn’t about giving up everything and living in misery. Rather, it is more about figuring out what things are the most important to you, and then focusing your time and attention on those. Too many times we give up our time and our attention to things that we really don’t find all that important. For example, we may spend a lot of extra time at work trying to make extra money, when in reality, we would rather be home enjoying our family and friends.

Or, we spend our time going to the store and purchasing things that we don’t want or need. We not only waste time at the store with this, but now we have to work more in order to pay for the things that we bought, and then we end up on a vicious cycle that is hard to get off. Many families also spend a lot of time racing back and forth between a lot of different activities, when they would rather just have some quality time at home.

We do all of these different things because we assume that is what is required from us. We assume that this is the only way to feel happy and satisfied in our modern world, and so we keep on doing it. But all this is doing is making us feel worn down, tired, and miserable.

This doesn’t mean that all of those things are necessarily bad. Minimalism isn’t about living like a hermit. For example, if you or your child like having a few activities to do after school, then there is nothing wrong with keeping one or two of these activities around. But if your child is in ten different activities and is gone all weekend and until late at night during the school week, it may be time to make some adjustments to your schedule to slow things down and bring in more happiness.

The goal of minimalism is to help you slow down and really enjoy the things in life. Yes, there are parts that talk about decluttering your home and getting rid of the things that you no longer need, but that is just the part of it. And even with the getting rid of things, you don’t have to throw out everything you own. You just have to re-evaluate what you find as important, and what is taking up space in your mind, your life, and your home.

Minimalism is an idea that can shape so many parts of your life. You are not limited to just cleaning up your home and getting rid of the items that you no longer need, although this is a very good place to start. You can also work on cleaning up your finances, work on using technology less often, and even use it as a way to improve your relationship, improve your health, and so much more. While most people will just start out with one or two ideas of minimalism to let them get used to the idea, minimalism is an idea that you can spread out to many different aspects of your life overall.

Minimalism is not something to be scared of. In fact, it is something that can really benefit you and ensure that you will see some great success in the amount of happiness that your life has. But the first step is to make sure that you have figured out what things you find the most valuable and the most meaningful in your own life, and then reduced how much of anything else is still present in your life.

This part can be the hardest for a lot of people who are dealing with minimalism. Our modern world has taught us that more is always better. We have learned that it is best to own as many things as possible. Just look at all of the advertisements that are around us, constantly telling us about the benefits of one product or another. We are enticed by these displays, by the thoughts that we may use those items at some point, or consumed by jealousy that our neighbor has something and we want to have it as well.

And so, we live in a society with a lot of consumerism in it. The advertisements promise that you will be happy if you buy this product or that product. But in reality, we are mostly left feeling a sense of emptiness. Those items don’t bring us any happiness. And often they can keep us from our own goals and what really maters to us because we end up working more and more hours in order to pay off the debts we incur for those items.

Doesn’t this kind of life sound miserable? We are basically becoming servants to our things, working hard and missing out on the things we would rather enjoy because we are so worried about paying off debts so that we can accumulate more things.

This is where the idea of minimalism comes into play. Here, we are going to focus on what is important to us and then we leave the rest behind. Minimalism is also a form of anti-materialism. It doesn’t say that you can’t purchase anything ever again. But when you do make a purchase, it needs to be for something that you will actually need, something that is actually worth the hours you have to put in at work to pay off that items. When you start to really think about the purchases that you make, and the amount that they cost you, outside of the dollar amount, you are going to see that it is easier to let go of the material items and focus on something else.

Instead of focusing so much of our time on material items, and on working to pay off those items, minimalism helps us to focus on whatever matters to us the most. Each person is going to be different when it comes to defining what is the most important thing to them. This means that you have to sit down and really figure out what that could be. If you had infinite amount of time to do what you wanted, what would that be? What is something that you regret not spending more time doing because you are at work or dealing with other obligations? These questions will help give you a better insight into the things that you find the most important to you.

Minimalism can be hard. Our modern world will fight against it, and often you may feel like you are the weird one out of the group because you follow these ideas. But you will also find that minimalism is the perfect answer for making you feel happier. Those who follow the ideas of minimalism often feel happier, more fulfilled and like they have found a new lease on life that wasn’t there before. They can get out of debt and not have to work so much. They can spend more time with family and friends compared to before, and they just get a chance to live the life that they dreamed of before.

This guidebook will go into more details about how you can implement the ideas of minimalism into your own life. It is easier than it seems, and in no time, you will feel happier and receive all of he benefits that are promised. If you are worried about how to implement this kind of lifestyle into your routine, just start with one area of your life at a time. This can make it seem less overwhelming, and it won’t be long before you see how great this movement can be, and you will want to add more and more into your life in no time.

The Less is More Mantra

If minimalism still sounds like rocket science to you, and you cannot truly grasp the purpose of it all, then perhaps its less is more mantra will shed some light. Because minimalism is just that, having less to actually have more. Confused much?

Google the term ‘minimalism’ and you will stumble upon many different definitions and statements. Some of them will make sense, while others may confuse you even more. From living your life to the minimum, to nothing but an artistic movement that exposes the essence in a subject, minimalism can surely be described in various ways. The best definition that I’ve ever come across is: Minimalism means addition by subtraction.

But how can you add something by subtracting? It’s quite simple actually, and if you give it a moment to think about it, it makes a lot of sense. By subtracting the unimportant things in life, you add more sense to the things you need, give them value, and include happiness in your life. And that’s what minimalism is all about. It can be defined as the intentional elimination of all unnecessary things, to reveal the true meaning of those that matter the most. That’s how you can add by subtracting, and that is what the less is more mantra is all about. Having less, to appreciate more.

What is our attachment to things so powerful?

The ideas of minimalism may seem pretty simple to start with, but often we run into troubles with putting them into action. It seems so simple to go through, but then we see our items and we have a hard time getting rid of them. In some cases, we start out with a lot of motivation and we will dump out a lot of things. But after that initial excitement starts to wear off, we find it harder and harder to let those items go.

Add to this mess that we also have to make sure that we don’t bring more items back into the home. It doesn’t matter how successful you are at decluttering your home, if you keep bringing in a ton of items to your home, the situation isn’t going to get any better.

Even though we know it is so important to declutter in order to get started with minimalism, it is hard to let go of some of the items that we own. This is because we have developed a sense of attachment to many of our items. Some things, like leftovers or food that has gone bad, can be thrown away in no time. but many items, even ones that we don’t want or need or have any use for, seem to have a deeper attachment to us, and it is hard to let go of those items at all.

There is a science behind this. Researchers have found that the areas of the brain that react to actual physical pain are going to light up when we talk about getting rid of some of the items that we own. We have learned how to put an attachment with that item, thanks to the talk of media and others, and it becomes hard to let go of items, even if we don’t use that item.

Not only is there a level of pain and discomfort that we feel when we try to get rid of things, but we also try to convince ourselves that we may need the item at a later time. the just in case scenario. The problem is that this is simply an excuse to hold onto an item that we don’t need, but we can’t seem to let go of or we aren’t willing to let go of.

With minimalism, you have to fight through some of these main problems that seem to creep up into the psyche of individuals. Some people will make up their mind and no longer have an issue with this. And other people may need to work on this all of the time. Being aware of this issue and working to fight against it can make a big difference in how successful and happy you are when you start to use the ideas of minimalism.

Things you will notice when you become a minimalist

Adding a bit of minimalism to your life can make a big difference. You will notice that you spend less money. You will notice that life seems a bit easier and less stressful. You will find multiple uses for the same item and you won’t spend as much time cleaning the items that you have sitting around the home. Some of the other things that you may notice changing in your life when you become a minimalist include:

You may spend more time shopping, but purchase less: When you are a minimalist, you will take more time to make your buying decisions. In some cases, such as with a big purchase, you may think it over for a few months before you decide to make the purchase. When you go to the store, you will spend time researching the item to make sure that it does what you need or want.

You can save money: Becoming a minimalist means that you can save money. You will stop giving in to your impulse purchases and only spend money on the things that matter to you the most. This, especially over time, can put more money into your pocket.

You learn how to do without. As a minimalist, you will only keep around the things that you actually value or need. And you may use some things for more than one purpose. For example, canning jars can not only hold your canned goods, but work as organizers, food containers, and drinking glasses. The more uses that you can get out of an item, the more like a minimalist you are. As a minimalist, instead of heading to the store and purchasing something right away, you will see if there is anything around your home that you can use instead. This can help you save time, money, and clutter around the house.

You gain more free time: When you reduce the amount of time that you spend purchasing new things, taking care of those items, organizing those items and looking for them when you need them again, you will be amazed at how much free time you gain. You can spend thatdoingahobby,hangingoutwithfriendsandfamily, and doing things that you actually want to do.

You know what you want to out of life: Each of the items that you place in your get-rid of pile as you declutter is a test of how well you know yourself. And when you go out and purchase a new item, you have to consider whether that item makes you happier and if it helps you to live the life that you really want.

Minimalism is an important way of life. It flies in the face of our modern world, one where we are told that we need to own a lot of things, and we need to buy and purchase even more, in order to be happy. But still, we often feel empty and like we need to try out something different in order to find the true happiness that we are looking for. Minimalism will provide you with the solution you are looking for when it comes to solving that problem.

Chapter 2

The Advantages of Using Minimalism in Your Life

There are a ton of benefits that you can enjoy when it comes to minimalism. In addition to get your home cleaned up and decluttered, and perhaps a little bit of free time along the way, those who follow the ideas of minimalism will find that they get a ton of other benefits in their lives as well. Some of the reasons that you should consider adding minimalism to your own lifestyle right away will include the following:

Clears out the mind

We don’t often think about the way that our possessions are linked to our emotional and mental health. But there is a clear and distinct connection between the two. There are actually studies that have been down that show how when we clear out our closets, it can have a positive impact on our peace of mind and our mental clarity.

Think about it. When was the last time that you went through your home and sorted through all the stuff? When was the last time that you looked through the closets, the extra bedroom, the storage room or anywhere else like that and discovered a lot of things that you forgot were there? How did you really feel when you finally did this and got rid of the things that you no longer needed?

For most people, this process can bring about a sense of relief for them. Even though you do not spend a lot of your own energy on these things from one day to the next, sometimes something as easy as clearing these items out can help to calm down the mind. That good feeling that you have when you take your clothes out to the thrift store or when you clear out that junk drawer in the kitchen is actually backed by some research. This is why with minimalism, if you don’t use it, need it, or love it, then it is time to get rid of it.

Can provide you with better health

Too many of us have found that we overcommit ourselves with all the things that we need to get done each day. We have to clean the house, get work done, go to work, meet with appointments, meet up with friends, and run ourselves and the kids to a million activities. All of this running and all of the worry about where to be and what time to be there can have horrible consequences on our overall health.

When you use minimalism in your life, you will find that it gives you permission to scale back. You will scale back on the number of items that are in your home, and that you are allowed to bring back into the home, so you spend less time cleaning. You and the family may decide on a set number of activities that each person is allowed to do, in order to scale back on how much running you do after school.

When you cut back on some of the responsibilities that you have to take on each day, you an then start to rest more. And when you rest more, you start to take better care of your whole family and yourself. And since minimalism will take a lot of different forms, you are sure to find ways to cut back and improve the health of your body.

More freedom

If you really spent some time thinking it through, you may be shocked by the number of material items you own, the amount that you wished you own,